Published 4:25 pm, Wednesday, March 26, 2014

For the first time in six years, Wayland Baptist has a men’s basketball all-American as Markus Monroe was named to the NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball All-America third team.

A 6-foot-2 senior guard from Monrovia, Calif., Monroe was second in the Sooner Athletic Conference and 11th in the NAIA in scoring, averaging 21.4 points per game while shooting 49 percent from the field. He led the team in steals (44) and rebounds per game (6.1), and finished second in assists with 118 and blocks with 30. Monroe scored 30-plus points six times this season, including twice in the SAC tournament. He led the Pioneers to a No. 20 ranking, a 23-11 record and to the NAIA National Championships for the first time since 2008. The last time the Pioneers won more game was 1992 when they went 28-6.

The last WBU player to earn all-American honors was Danny Storey, who made the second team in 2008.

Senior guard Dominique Rambo of Southwestern Assemblies of God is the first player to earn back-to-back Player of the Year honors since the award was established in 1994. Rambo, who shared last year’s Player of the Year honor with Georgetown’s (Ky.) Vic Moses, ranked third in the NAIA in scoring (23.4) and was second in steals (3.5). He led the team in assists (3.6) and pulled down 4.9 rebounds per contest. The two-time SAC Player of the Year led the Lions to their third overall championship trip and a 26-6 overall record.

Rambo was the lone SAC player on the first team, while junior guards Semar Farris of Mid-America Christian and Marty Wilkerson of St. Gregory’s made the second team. Named honorable mention were Gilbert Gyamfi of John Brown, Everrett Pleasant of Northwood, Aaron Abram of Oklahoma Baptist, R.J. McGhee of Oklahoma City and Jahseth Lloyd of USAO.

Rhett Soliday of Vanguard (Calif.) is the Rawlings-NAIA National Coach of the Year after leading the Lions to their first-ever national championship title after a 70-65 win over Emmanuel (Ga.). Soliday, in his fourth season, and Vanguard produced a school-record 32-6 mark.

All of the selections are made by the All-America Committee and comprises a first, second, third and honorable mention team. There are 10 members on each of the first three All-America teams.